Teenager Zong Seals Ally Pally Spot

TEENAGER Xiaochen Zong will make his William Hill World Darts Championship debut in December after winning the Chinese Qualifier in Haikou.

Zong, who competed in the 2016 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship and at the Shanghai Darts Masters earlier this year, defeated Yin Deng in the final of the qualifier in a deciding set to seal his Alexandra Palace place.

He had begun the final weekend of the Chinese season by reaching the final in Stage Five and Stage Six on the domestic circuit, twice being denied in a deciding leg as he lost 5-4 to Weihong Li and Chengan Liu.

However, he recovered to go all the way in the 32-player World Championship Qualifier, whitewashing Jin Chen, defeating Chenhao Li 6-2 and then enjoying a quarter-final win over Bin Zheng in straight sets before seeing off Di Zhuang 2-1 in the semi-finals.

Zong, who has suspended his university studies as he bids to making his dartnig breakthrough, travelled to the World Cup of Darts in June 2017 with the Chinese team and received coaching from former World Champion Bob Anderson.

He took on James Wade in July at the Shanghai Darts Masters, and will now join the other international qualifiers in the sport's biggest tournament at Alexandra Palace in December.